This paper investigates the affordability of private condominiums for people in Shanghai. The ability to purchase private condominiums depends on whether the purchaser already owns real estate. In Shanghai, the number of condominiums supplied by private developers has been rapidly increasing in recent years. However, as the prices are about 25 times the average annual household income, it is difficult for ordinary Chinese to move to these condominiums from conventional public/traditional housing. In this study, the relationship between the purchase price of a condominium and the annual household income of the buyer is analyzed using a questionnaire. Questions included the location of previous residence(s), what type of housing respondents preferred, how they received financing for the condominium unit, etc. The results showed that the affordability of private condominiums depends on whether a potential purchaser already owns real estate.

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This study considers the reconstruction of the traditional Kiso lacquerware industrial region, the former Narakawa-mura, Nagano prefecture, Japan, paying special attention to the transformation of production structure with reference to imported low-priced lacquerware made in China since the 1980s. Data collection methods consisted of a quantitative questionnaire survey of lacquerware firms and a qualitative in-depth interview with a specific firm. The results of the survey and interview indicate that the craftsmen do not necessarily have negative evaluations of products imported from China. Their attitudes differ according to the contents of their tasks and the positioning of their work by Chinese lacquerware rates. Craftsmen who utilize Chinese products as part of the production process consider a supply of low-priced lacquerware beneficial; those who do not utilize Chinese products focus on rediscovering “tradition” in the originality of handmade products. The reconstruction of “tradition” is not a unified process, but always varies in relationship to Chinese products. The evaluation of Chinese products does not result from problems with the quality of lacquerware, which shows the diversity of positioning of lacquerware craftsmen. Furthermore, the author clarified that transnational connections between specific individuals could play an important role in regional development in this lacquerware region, with special attention to personal biographies from an historic-geographic viewpoint.

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In 1990, the Construction Ministry notified each Regional Construction Bureau of its unique promotion of “nature-oriented river work.” That was a bold move for the ministry, as it was an unprecedented project that propounded environment-conscious river development. This policy was included in the amended River Act of 1997 and remains in effect to this day after partial revision in 2006. A variety of structures were constructed under this policy in and around rivers throughout Japan. This article describes sample cases of environment-conscious river improvement over the last 20 years. A reality check was performed on those cases to grasp the total picture of the progress of nature-oriented river work, which caused a great deal of confusion among those involved in river improvement.

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This study focuses on the roles of informal networks and the actors who participate in business workshops and gatherings in industrial agglomerations in the Hamamatsu area of Shizuoka prefecture, Japan. There are numerous institutions for supporting industry in the Hamamatsu area and they organize workshops and contribute to the development of informal networks. This study applied social network analysis to the relational structures of informal networks using data on actors' participation in business workshops. By making the relational structures visible and measuring the potential of informal networks, the following findings were obtained. First, some specific actors become knowledge carriers because they join multiple business workshops. Those actors may have novel knowledge and valuable market information and therefore play a critical role in innovation processes and developing formal networks such as collaborative R&D projects. Second, although long-term relationships can make the actors homogeneous and inefficient, in the Hamamatsu area they have not fallen into that trap. Long-distance joint actors and multiple participants maintain the fluidity and diversity of business workshops in the Hamamatsu area. They can avoid cognitive lock-in by maintaining channels of novel knowledge and information.

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This paper examines the recovery of the food distribution system in a disaster-affected area, changes in the food-shopping environment of residents after the disaster, and problems in resolving food shortages. The study area was Yamada-machi, Shimohei-gun, Iwate prefecture, Japan, a town severely damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake. The victims experienced a serious food shortage soon after the earthquake. We found that many food stores remained closed and the shopping environment was deteriorating in Yamada-machi, with many areas around city centers and temporary housing areas still experiencing extensive food shortages.

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We have stored detailed digital elevation model (DEM) data published by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) since the Basic Act on Promotion of Utilization of Geographical Information came into effect in 2007. We produced stereoscopic images from all files of 5-m-mesh DEM and 10-m-mesh DEM of the GSI and interpreted them in geographic information systems. As a result, smaller fault scarps and fault-related broad deformations were newly identified in numerous sites. We report several of those examples, which indicate that stereoscopic images from detailed DEM data should be systematically applied to active fault research, in addition to reviewing the advantages of DEM-based stereoscopic images.

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The March 11, 2011, earthquake off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan caused large tsunami. Tsunami-damaged areas were mapped on a scale of 1 : 25,000 based on the interpretation of stereopaired aerial photographs taken immediately after the earthquake by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. The area interpreted in this study was from Aomori to Chiba prefecture, except for the restricted area around the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Areas for which no aerial photographs were available were mapped using Google Earth and other sources. The purpose of mapping was to provide prompt basic information on the extent of tsunami invasion and distribution of devastated areas for all people taking countermeasures against the disaster. The lessons from our mapping area are that 1) aerial photographs should be taken as soon as possible after disasters and 2) a working team should be quickly arranged to map damaged areas and release the results.

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Jared Diamond's seminal book Guns, Germs, and Steel was published in 1997 and immediately became a bestseller. The Japanese translation of this book was subsequently published in 2000 and it attracted a large readership during the decade of the 2000s. Diamond's main argument that the human geographic setting was advantageous in the development of European society received both positive and negative reviews in anglophone publications, including a number of strong criticisms from geographers. In Japan, however, the book was overwhelmingly praised in various reviews, and despite its relevance to the discipline, very few geographers voiced their opinions publicly. Through the analysis of this book and published reviews (in both English and Japanese), this paper examines the acceptance processes of Guns, Germs, and Steel, which took a different path between the anglophone and Japanese publishing world. It argues that while introducing academic works from overseas is crucial, critical perspectives and discussions are essential to develop the discipline of geography in Japan.

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